By Zubairu Idris
Katsina, – Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina state has urged communities in Northern parts of the country to participate in running the education sector to fast-track development in the country.
Masari who made the remar on Friday when the Board of Trustees of Al-qalam University, Katsina, paid him a courtesy visit, said that the call become imperative because community participation in education sector in the North was low.
‘’Nigeria as the most populous nation in Sub-Saharan Africa has gradually become recruitment center of extremists because some people are not educated and are not skilled in anything.
‘’That is why extremists are using them as their army. We must ensure community participation in education, politicians must give education top priority, if we want to succeed.
“The data released by the UNICEF, indicates that there are about 20 million out of school children in the country, 80 per cent of the number, are from the North, while North West is the most affected.
‘’We must reposition our education system, because we cannot rise above our education heights,’’ he said.
He cited example with Lagos state where there were only 2,000 public schools, while hundreds are under the community and private sector.
‘’That gives Lagos state the opportunity to take proper care of the limited number of its schools,’’ he said.
Masari also assured that the state government would look into ways of assisting the university financially, promising that the government would construct additional hostels for state indigenes, and laboratories in the institution.
Earlier, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the institution, Alhaji Sani Zangon-Daura, urged the state government to assist them with grant to effectively run the institution, as the university pays N2 million monthly tax to the state government.
He said that the university established in 2005 with 236 students and four programmes, now has 8, 360 students offering 22 different programmes, with 240 academic staff members.
(NAN)
